Elena Paparizou (Έλενα Παπαρίζου in Greek characters; born January 31, 1982, Gothenburg, Sweden), whose first name is often mis-spelled 'Helena', is a popular Swedish-Greek singer, perhaps best-known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, in which she represented Greece with "My Number One".

Elena Paparizou was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, to Greek parents. Elena's artistic talents and eagerness to excel became apparent very early, and she was soon involved in singing, dancing and acting. As she wanted to develop her talents, Elena began her training in these arts even while she was still at school.

A significant turning point in Elena's life was the creation of Antique, a group she set up with her childhood friend and fellow Swede-Greek Nikos Panagiotidis at the age of seventeen. Antique quickly signed their first record label contract, with the Swedish record label Bonnier.

Antique's debut single "Opa Opa" became a huge hit, reaching number one on the single charts and gaining gold status following its release in August 1999. (The song was the second big hit in an 'immigrant' language in Sweden, after Tarkan's "Simarik", popularizing music in other languages than English.) The band's subsequent fame and success, strongly associated as it was with the international promotion of Greek culture, led to them being selected as Greece's representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in Copenhagen. The band reached a solid third place, sought by the help of Elena's revealing dress, voice, and most of all, the song, "Die for You". Although equalled by Sakis Rouvas's effort "Shake it" in 2004, it was Greece's highest place in the competition until Elena won the contest as a solo artist in 2005.

Antique's success in the Eurovision Song Contest led to their recording multiple platinum albums, playing a European tour, and collaborating with many other artists from Greece and elsewhere. Elena has admitted that Greek music had been something of an acquired taste for her, saying that the name "Antique" was probably a reflection of her childhood impression of it being something rather distant and old-fashioned, that she only really associated with her summer holidays in Greece.

Despite the group's success, Antique broke up in 2003. Elena signed a solo recording contract with Sony Music. In December 2003, she released her first single as a solo artist, "Anapantites Klisis", a song that was written especially for her by singer and songwriter Christos Dantis became a gold record in Greece.

During the winter season of 2003-2004, Elena appeared beside one of Greece's biggest male singers, Antonis Remos, at Studio Pireos night club. In spring 2004, she released her first personal album Protereotita from which "Antithesis", "Anamnisis", "Katse Kala" and "Stin Kardia Mou Mono Thlipsi" became major hits. Her success brought her to Fever music night club for the winter season 2004-2005 alongside of Rouvas.

Because of her popularity in Greece, where she ended up spending more and more time, she became a popular choice to represent the country for a second time in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, in which she won the contest for Greece with "My Number One". It was the first time in the contest's history that Greece had won. This time she acted as a solo artist, but had backing vocals sung by Alexandros Panayi.

In the summer and fall of 2005 Elena toured in Australia and North America with Greek artist Nikos Kourkoulis. Elena performed many sold out concerts. During that time, she also served as the official ambassador of the Greek Ministry of Tourism.

Remixes of "Mambo" and "My Number One" are scheduled to be released in the United States and Canada in 2006 by Moda Records. A new double album is scheduled for release in Greece in April 2006.

Elena speaks fluent Greek, Swedish and English (and has also studied French), and has mentioned that her dream would be to make a song whose lyrics were made up of words in every language in the world.

The subject of the correct spelling of her name is much-disputed. In Greek, there used to be an accent called a spiritus asper accent to indicate the 'h' sound (just as the 'h' in 'Helena'). This breathing was abolished several centuries ago, and the Greek name 'Έλενα' was already pronounced 'Elena' at the time of Elena Paparizou's birth. The spelling with the spiritus asper however was maintained in a system known as polytonic orthography which, having no vocal significance, finally ceased to be used some decades ago.

Elena Paparizou on the other hand, was born in Sweden where the related name 'Helena' exists, and one could presume with little uncertainty that many Swedes translated her name as 'Helena'. That is to say, Paparizou's name is Elena, but has been mis-spelt 'Helena'.

Her name has always been spelt 'Elena' during her career, but in Sweden, and in various other countries as her second appearance in Eurovision (in 2005) approached, the spelling 'Helena' grew more common, and the songstress herself admitted in a Swedish interview that she was forced by her record company to spell her name with a 'h'. The singer, however, has made it known that her name is written as 'Elena' and this is how she prefers to be known.